{"id":103,"date":"2023-09-26T16:06:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T20:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/acandela\/?post_type=chapter&p=103"},"modified":"2023-10-24T11:55:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T15:55:26","slug":"three-short-stories-by-sherman-alexei","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/acandela\/chapter\/three-short-stories-by-sherman-alexei\/","title":{"raw":"Three Short Stories by Sherman Alexei","rendered":"Three Short Stories by Sherman Alexei"},"content":{"raw":"
Read the following short stories. Vocabulary activities follow the story, and should be done on a separate piece of paper.<\/h5>\r\n

Fixed Income<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nWhen I landed the McDonald\u2019s job, I was surprised to learn that I was the only teenager. I thought fast food was the only place where teenagers could get jobs. But most of the workers were college students or college-effing-graduates. One of the cooks has an Electrical Engineering degree. And he\u2019s using all that science education to make sure there are two pickles, and only two pickles, on the hamburgers.\r\n\r\nI don\u2019t mean to make fun of my co-workers. They\u2019re mostly cool. I\u2019m angry at this effing country for making these adults work at McDonald\u2019s. The woman who works the drive-through is a forty-five-year-old single mother and has three kids. How the hell does she pay for anything with her McDonald\u2019s wages?\r\n\r\nAnd don\u2019t think it\u2019s an accident that 99% of my co-workers are Black and Latino. I\u2019m Native American and I\u2019m pretty dark for a mixed-blood urban Indian. The only thing white in this McDonald\u2019s are the effing vanilla milkshakes.\r\n\r\nSometimes, I feel guilty that I have this job. There might be other mothers and fathers who need it. But it ain\u2019t like my parents are rich. My Mom, the Indian, is an Academic Advisor at the University of Washington, and makes decent cash, but my Dad, the white guy, got laid off from Boeing two years ago and can\u2019t get a job anywhere else. Sooner or later, he\u2019s probably going to be making french fries alongside me.\r\n\r\nI\u2019m saving my money for college. I screwed off my first two years of high school, like too many Indians do, so I don\u2019t have the grades for a four-year school. But Seattle has some awesome community colleges. I can kick ass in my studies there and earn my way into a university somewhere close to home.\r\n\r\nThese are desperate times, and I\u2019m not as desperate as a lot of people, but I\u2019m desperate enough to need this job.\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s an elderly white man who works here. His reflexes are too slow to use any of the equipment, so he greets people at the door and clears and cleans tables.\r\n\r\nHe\u2019s got a sharp mind, though. I like what he has to say. We take our breaks together. We put on coats to cover our McDonald\u2019s polo shirts, walk a block, step into an alley, and smoke.\r\n\r\nHis wife died ten years ago.\r\n\r\n\u201cOld husbands aren\u2019t supposed to live longer than old wives,\u201d he said. \u201cMy wife should be the widow sitting with other old widows making fun of their dead husbands.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe has a girlfriend, though. A few girlfriends, actually.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen you\u2019re a single man in the old folks home,\u201d he said, \u201cyou spend a lot of time dancing with different women.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cDancing is what you geezers call it?\u201d I said. \u201cYou\u2019re, like, the oldest playboy in the world.\u201d\r\n\r\nAfter a few months of cigarette friendship, he asked me to call him Grandfather with a capital G.\r\n\r\n\u201cIsn\u2019t that what you Indians call your respected elders?\u201d he said. \u201cNot grandpa or gramps or old man or geezer. It\u2019s Grandfather like it was my royal name.\u201d\r\n\r\nAll four of my grandparents, two Indian and two white, died before I was born, so I didn\u2019t have any traditional elders. I needed a grandfather. I was hungry for a grandfather.\r\n\r\n\u201cGrandfather,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to go back to work.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe smiled as big as I\u2019d ever seen. He loved the respect. I loved respecting him. In this sad country, respect is the only thing most of us can afford.\r\n

VOCABULARY MATCHING: Match the definition on the left with the word on the right.<\/h2>\r\n

***<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n

1. financially limited, poor<\/h2>\r\n

2.a voice that is rough, lacking clarity, and hard to hear<\/h2>\r\n

3. a strong desire or craving for new or exciting experiences.<\/h2>\r\n

4. ability to bounce back from challenges<\/h2>\r\n

5. motivation and drive to achieve goals.<\/h2>\r\n

6.\u00a0 deep love, loyalty, and dedication towards them friends and family.<\/h2>\r\n

7. positive outlook and hopefulness despite difficult circumstances.<\/h2>\r\n

8. a charming and magnetic quality that attracts others.<\/h2>\r\n

9. a strong wish or longing to achieve a secure economic situation.<\/h2>\r\n

10. a strong urge or determination to be self-reliant and self-sufficient.<\/h2>\r\n <\/td>\r\n

\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • \r\n

    charismatic<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    aspiration<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    \u00a0desire<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    raspy<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    thirst<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    resilient<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    determination<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    devotion<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    optimism<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t
  • \r\n

    meagre<\/h2>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

    New Vocabulary: On a separate piece of paper, choose a vocabulary word for the blank. You must use vocabulary words from the above section.<\/h2>\r\n1. In the story \"Fixed Income,\" the main character's __________ life refers to his financially limited and insufficient lifestyle.\r\n2. The phrase \"the old man's __________ voice\" suggests that his voice was hoarse, rough, or lacking clarity.\r\n3. The main character's __________ for adventure implies his strong desire or craving for exciting experiences.\r\n4. The main character's __________ attitude towards life indicates his ability to bounce back from challenges and remain determined.\r\n5. The main character's __________ for success reveals his unwavering motivation and drive to achieve his goals.\r\n6. The main character's __________ for his family demonstrates his deep love, loyalty, and dedication towards them.\r\n7. The main character's __________ for the future signifies his positive outlook and hopefulness despite difficult circumstances.\r\n8. The main character's __________ personality suggests that he possesses a charming and magnetic quality that attracts others.\r\n9. The main character's __________ for financial stability implies his strong wish or longing to achieve a secure economic situation.\r\n10. The main character's __________ for independence indicates his strong urge or determination to be self-reliant and self-sufficient.\r\n\r\nVocabulary Words: meager, raspy, thirst, resilient, determination, devotion, optimism, charismatic, aspiration, and desire.<\/span>\r\n

    <\/h1>\r\n

    Honor Society<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nOn the mornings after house parties, I gather the empty, half-empty, and nearly full beer cans, empty them into the sink, crush them flat, and throw them into the bed of my grandmother\u2019s truck.\r\n\r\nShe\u2019s been dead for three years but it is still her truck. I\u2019m only borrowing it from her ghost. It has over three hundred thousand miles on the odometer but I keep it running with tools, prayers, and hand-drum honor songs.\r\n\r\nWay-ya-hey-ya, start, engine, start! Way-ya-hey-ya, don\u2019t break my heart!<\/em>\r\n\r\nWhen the truck bed is filled with cans, I tie a sheet over them to keep them from flying out, and drive off my reservation into Spokane, Washington.\r\n\r\nI\u2019m seventeen but don\u2019t have a driver\u2019s license or even a learner\u2019s permit. My family is poor and we can\u2019t afford driver\u2019s ed. And I can\u2019t take the driving test if I haven\u2019t passed driver\u2019s ed. But I don\u2019t need official approval to drive safely. I obey the speed limit, check my mirrors often, and keep both hands on the wheel.\r\n\r\nWay-ya-hey-hey, go, go, little truck, speed along with skill and luck, way-ya-ho-hey.<\/em>\r\n\r\nOnce in Spokane, I drive to the recycling center near the abandoned East Sprague Drive-In and sell my aluminum cans for fifty-five cents per pound. I\u2019ve done the math:\r\n
      \r\n \t
    1. I need to sell 818 pounds in order to make $450.<\/li>\r\n \t
    2. I need $450 in order to pay for the SAT prep course that guarantees I\u2019ll raise my test scores by 20%.<\/li>\r\n \t
    3. In the competition to win scholarships and admission into great colleges, a great SAT score makes all the difference.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n \r\n\r\nMy parents live on government welfare and tribal charity. Their full-time job is sadness. Neither of them graduated high school and they haven\u2019t lived anywhere but on our reservation. But, sober or drunk, they have always played hand-drums and sang the ancient and new songs:\r\n\r\nWay-yay-hey-hey, I can\u2019t win or lose, I got rez-rez-reservation blues, Ya-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>\r\n\r\nThey have taught me to sing and drum. And though I don\u2019t believe in God, I believe a beautiful song is approximately God. So I sing and drum with my mother and father. I sing with my tribe.\r\n\r\nAnd I travel our reservation, by car and foot, to collect aluminum cans. Pound by pound, dollar by dollar, I am preparing myself for the test, for the most important questions of my life:\r\n\r\nComplete the Sentence:\u00a0<\/em>When the Indian boy, poor and\u2026, decided that he had to\u2026 his reservation, he felt\u2026\r\n
        \r\n \t
      1. suicidally depressed\u2026escape\u2026like he was trying to save his life<\/li>\r\n \t
      2. loyal to his tribe\u2026remain on\u2026that he had no other choice<\/li>\r\n \t
      3. very intelligent\u2026help\u2026that a college education was vital<\/li>\r\n \t
      4. devoted to his parents\u2026abandon them and\u2026like a traitor<\/li>\r\n \t
      5. ambitious\u2026see the world beyond\u2026elated and terrified<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n \r\n\r\nWhen I take that SAT, I will sing, if only in my imagination, because I can\u2019t bring in my real drum. I will sing to lessen my fear. And I will sing about this crazy life:\r\nYa-ya-hey-hey, you can\u2019t leave and you can\u2019t stay, way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>\r\nYa-ya-hey-hey, you got too many questions too many days, way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>\r\nYa-ya-hey-hey. Should you hate? Or should you love? Way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>\r\nYa-ya-hey-hey. The answer is All of the Above. Way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>\r\n\r\n***\r\n

        Valediction<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nAfter school, after football practice, every day for three years, John and I walked to the grocery store in our little town and bought candy, potato chips, and soda pop. It was a ceremony. We said hello to the old couple who owned the store, stepped into the walk-in cooler, grabbed our cold drinks, paid for them and our other snacks, and headed to John\u2019s house or mine, depending on what our parents were planning to cook for dinner.\r\n\r\nIt was an average life for two average kids.\r\n\r\nBut, one day, in November of our senior year, John and I, as usual, stepped into the cooler and grabbed our favorite cans of pop. But then we looked at each other and we both had the same thought. I don\u2019t know why it happened. Without saying a word, John and I grabbed three six-packs of soda and stuffed them into our duffle bags. Carrying the carbonated loot, we paid for our usual junk food, walked to John\u2019s house, raced into his bedroom and celebrated. We drank all that pop and got wound up and stupid on sugar and caffeine. We could have stolen beer but we were athletes. And jocks did not get drunk in our school.\r\n\r\nThe next morning, we met up before school, and vowed to never do it again. One time was kind of innocent, but more than that would be criminal.\r\n\r\nBut after practice that night, we did it again. Then again the day after that. We shoplifted for a week.\r\n\r\nThe thrill and guilt grew bigger each time.\r\n\r\nWe joked and laughed with the old people who owned the store. We paid for five bucks of snacks as we stole twenty more.\r\n\r\nThen I couldn\u2019t do it anymore.\r\n\r\n\u201cJohn,\u201d I said. \u201cWe have to stop. We\u2019re going to get caught. They\u2019ll kick us off the team. They might throw us out of school.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cJust one more time,\u201d he said. \u201cCome on, Pete. They\u2019re too old to catch us.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cI can\u2019t do it, man.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYou\u2019ve always been a wuss.\u201d\r\n\r\nI walked home alone while John went to the store. I thought he might text or call me after he left the store. I didn\u2019t hear anything from him.\r\n\r\nWhen I got to school the next morning, I immediately heard the bad news. John had been caught shoplifting. I knew they\u2019d wonder how I was involved. John and I went everywhere together.\r\n\r\nHalfway through first period, I was summoned to the principal\u2019s office. He was there with the superintendent, the school counselor, and the football coach. It felt like an interrogation.\r\n\r\n\u201cPeter,\u201d the principal said. \u201cI\u2019m sure you know why you\u2019re here.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cBecause of John,\u201d I said.\r\n\r\n\u201cYes,\u201d he said. \u201cDid you know what he was doing? Were you involved?\u201d\r\n\r\nI wanted to tell the truth. I knew that I should confess. But it felt like I\u2019d destroy my life by admitting to the crime. I wondered if John had already told them that I\u2019d stolen nearly as often as he had. Did he do the right thing?\r\n\r\n\u201cPete,\u201d the principal asked again. \u201cWere you involved in this?\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cNo, sir,\u201d I said.\r\n\r\nThey all studied my face. They knew I was lying. They wouldn\u2019t let me get away with it.\r\n\r\n\u201cOkay, Pete,\u201d the principal said. \u201cJohn already told us he did it alone.\u201d\r\n\r\nI could tell they hadn\u2019t believed him, either. But there was nothing they could do. I hadn\u2019t confessed and John had denied that I was a thief, too. He was kicked off the football team, sentenced to community service picking up litter around town, and was suspended from school for a month.\r\n\r\nDuring that month, he and I didn\u2019t see each other. We didn\u2019t call or text. We\u2019d been constantly together for years but things had changed. I don\u2019t know why he didn\u2019t contact me. But I was too ashamed to talk to him. I\u2019d let him take all the punishment. I kept playing football. I didn\u2019t have to scoop up dog shit while my classmates watched. I wasn\u2019t suspended. And my reputation wasn\u2019t ruined. I wasn\u2019t branded as a good kid gone bad. In fact, some people thought John had betrayed me by shoplifting and nearly getting me into trouble.\r\n\r\nWhen John came back to school, he wouldn\u2019t look at me. And I wouldn\u2019t look at him. This silence went on for the rest of the year. We ignored each other at our graduation ceremony. Our parents ignored each other, too.\r\n\r\nLate that night, at a kegger down by the river, we stood at separate campfires. I didn\u2019t drink anything. But he got really drunk. I was worried for him. He caught me staring. He threw his beer into the fire and staggered up to me.\r\n\r\nHe grabbed me by my shirt and shook me.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou aren\u2019t who I thought you were,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\n\u201cNeither are you,\u201d I said\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"
        Read the following short stories. Vocabulary activities follow the story, and should be done on a separate piece of paper.<\/h5>\n

        Fixed Income<\/strong><\/h1>\n

        When I landed the McDonald\u2019s job, I was surprised to learn that I was the only teenager. I thought fast food was the only place where teenagers could get jobs. But most of the workers were college students or college-effing-graduates. One of the cooks has an Electrical Engineering degree. And he\u2019s using all that science education to make sure there are two pickles, and only two pickles, on the hamburgers.<\/p>\n

        I don\u2019t mean to make fun of my co-workers. They\u2019re mostly cool. I\u2019m angry at this effing country for making these adults work at McDonald\u2019s. The woman who works the drive-through is a forty-five-year-old single mother and has three kids. How the hell does she pay for anything with her McDonald\u2019s wages?<\/p>\n

        And don\u2019t think it\u2019s an accident that 99% of my co-workers are Black and Latino. I\u2019m Native American and I\u2019m pretty dark for a mixed-blood urban Indian. The only thing white in this McDonald\u2019s are the effing vanilla milkshakes.<\/p>\n

        Sometimes, I feel guilty that I have this job. There might be other mothers and fathers who need it. But it ain\u2019t like my parents are rich. My Mom, the Indian, is an Academic Advisor at the University of Washington, and makes decent cash, but my Dad, the white guy, got laid off from Boeing two years ago and can\u2019t get a job anywhere else. Sooner or later, he\u2019s probably going to be making french fries alongside me.<\/p>\n

        I\u2019m saving my money for college. I screwed off my first two years of high school, like too many Indians do, so I don\u2019t have the grades for a four-year school. But Seattle has some awesome community colleges. I can kick ass in my studies there and earn my way into a university somewhere close to home.<\/p>\n

        These are desperate times, and I\u2019m not as desperate as a lot of people, but I\u2019m desperate enough to need this job.<\/p>\n

        There\u2019s an elderly white man who works here. His reflexes are too slow to use any of the equipment, so he greets people at the door and clears and cleans tables.<\/p>\n

        He\u2019s got a sharp mind, though. I like what he has to say. We take our breaks together. We put on coats to cover our McDonald\u2019s polo shirts, walk a block, step into an alley, and smoke.<\/p>\n

        His wife died ten years ago.<\/p>\n

        \u201cOld husbands aren\u2019t supposed to live longer than old wives,\u201d he said. \u201cMy wife should be the widow sitting with other old widows making fun of their dead husbands.\u201d<\/p>\n

        He has a girlfriend, though. A few girlfriends, actually.<\/p>\n

        \u201cWhen you\u2019re a single man in the old folks home,\u201d he said, \u201cyou spend a lot of time dancing with different women.\u201d<\/p>\n

        \u201cDancing is what you geezers call it?\u201d I said. \u201cYou\u2019re, like, the oldest playboy in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

        After a few months of cigarette friendship, he asked me to call him Grandfather with a capital G.<\/p>\n

        \u201cIsn\u2019t that what you Indians call your respected elders?\u201d he said. \u201cNot grandpa or gramps or old man or geezer. It\u2019s Grandfather like it was my royal name.\u201d<\/p>\n

        All four of my grandparents, two Indian and two white, died before I was born, so I didn\u2019t have any traditional elders. I needed a grandfather. I was hungry for a grandfather.<\/p>\n

        \u201cGrandfather,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to go back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

        He smiled as big as I\u2019d ever seen. He loved the respect. I loved respecting him. In this sad country, respect is the only thing most of us can afford.<\/p>\n

        VOCABULARY MATCHING: Match the definition on the left with the word on the right.<\/h2>\n

        ***<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        \n

        1. financially limited, poor<\/h2>\n

        2.a voice that is rough, lacking clarity, and hard to hear<\/h2>\n

        3. a strong desire or craving for new or exciting experiences.<\/h2>\n

        4. ability to bounce back from challenges<\/h2>\n

        5. motivation and drive to achieve goals.<\/h2>\n

        6.\u00a0 deep love, loyalty, and dedication towards them friends and family.<\/h2>\n

        7. positive outlook and hopefulness despite difficult circumstances.<\/h2>\n

        8. a charming and magnetic quality that attracts others.<\/h2>\n

        9. a strong wish or longing to achieve a secure economic situation.<\/h2>\n

        10. a strong urge or determination to be self-reliant and self-sufficient.<\/h2>\n

         <\/td>\n

        		\n
          \n
        • \n

          charismatic<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          aspiration<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          \u00a0desire<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          raspy<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          thirst<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          resilient<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          determination<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          devotion<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          optimism<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n

          meagre<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

          New Vocabulary: On a separate piece of paper, choose a vocabulary word for the blank. You must use vocabulary words from the above section.<\/h2>\n

          1. In the story “Fixed Income,” the main character’s __________ life refers to his financially limited and insufficient lifestyle.
          \n2. The phrase “the old man’s __________ voice” suggests that his voice was hoarse, rough, or lacking clarity.
          \n3. The main character’s __________ for adventure implies his strong desire or craving for exciting experiences.
          \n4. The main character’s __________ attitude towards life indicates his ability to bounce back from challenges and remain determined.
          \n5. The main character’s __________ for success reveals his unwavering motivation and drive to achieve his goals.
          \n6. The main character’s __________ for his family demonstrates his deep love, loyalty, and dedication towards them.
          \n7. The main character’s __________ for the future signifies his positive outlook and hopefulness despite difficult circumstances.
          \n8. The main character’s __________ personality suggests that he possesses a charming and magnetic quality that attracts others.
          \n9. The main character’s __________ for financial stability implies his strong wish or longing to achieve a secure economic situation.
          \n10. The main character’s __________ for independence indicates his strong urge or determination to be self-reliant and self-sufficient.<\/p>\n

          Vocabulary Words: meager, raspy, thirst, resilient, determination, devotion, optimism, charismatic, aspiration, and desire.<\/span><\/p>\n

          <\/h1>\n

          Honor Society<\/strong><\/h1>\n

          On the mornings after house parties, I gather the empty, half-empty, and nearly full beer cans, empty them into the sink, crush them flat, and throw them into the bed of my grandmother\u2019s truck.<\/p>\n

          She\u2019s been dead for three years but it is still her truck. I\u2019m only borrowing it from her ghost. It has over three hundred thousand miles on the odometer but I keep it running with tools, prayers, and hand-drum honor songs.<\/p>\n

          Way-ya-hey-ya, start, engine, start! Way-ya-hey-ya, don\u2019t break my heart!<\/em><\/p>\n

          When the truck bed is filled with cans, I tie a sheet over them to keep them from flying out, and drive off my reservation into Spokane, Washington.<\/p>\n

          I\u2019m seventeen but don\u2019t have a driver\u2019s license or even a learner\u2019s permit. My family is poor and we can\u2019t afford driver\u2019s ed. And I can\u2019t take the driving test if I haven\u2019t passed driver\u2019s ed. But I don\u2019t need official approval to drive safely. I obey the speed limit, check my mirrors often, and keep both hands on the wheel.<\/p>\n

          Way-ya-hey-hey, go, go, little truck, speed along with skill and luck, way-ya-ho-hey.<\/em><\/p>\n

          Once in Spokane, I drive to the recycling center near the abandoned East Sprague Drive-In and sell my aluminum cans for fifty-five cents per pound. I\u2019ve done the math:<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. I need to sell 818 pounds in order to make $450.<\/li>\n
          2. I need $450 in order to pay for the SAT prep course that guarantees I\u2019ll raise my test scores by 20%.<\/li>\n
          3. In the competition to win scholarships and admission into great colleges, a great SAT score makes all the difference.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

            My parents live on government welfare and tribal charity. Their full-time job is sadness. Neither of them graduated high school and they haven\u2019t lived anywhere but on our reservation. But, sober or drunk, they have always played hand-drums and sang the ancient and new songs:<\/p>\n

            Way-yay-hey-hey, I can\u2019t win or lose, I got rez-rez-reservation blues, Ya-ya-hey-hey.<\/em><\/p>\n

            They have taught me to sing and drum. And though I don\u2019t believe in God, I believe a beautiful song is approximately God. So I sing and drum with my mother and father. I sing with my tribe.<\/p>\n

            And I travel our reservation, by car and foot, to collect aluminum cans. Pound by pound, dollar by dollar, I am preparing myself for the test, for the most important questions of my life:<\/p>\n

            Complete the Sentence:\u00a0<\/em>When the Indian boy, poor and\u2026, decided that he had to\u2026 his reservation, he felt\u2026<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. suicidally depressed\u2026escape\u2026like he was trying to save his life<\/li>\n
            2. loyal to his tribe\u2026remain on\u2026that he had no other choice<\/li>\n
            3. very intelligent\u2026help\u2026that a college education was vital<\/li>\n
            4. devoted to his parents\u2026abandon them and\u2026like a traitor<\/li>\n
            5. ambitious\u2026see the world beyond\u2026elated and terrified<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

               <\/p>\n

              When I take that SAT, I will sing, if only in my imagination, because I can\u2019t bring in my real drum. I will sing to lessen my fear. And I will sing about this crazy life:
              \nYa-ya-hey-hey, you can\u2019t leave and you can\u2019t stay, way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>
              \nYa-ya-hey-hey, you got too many questions too many days, way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>
              \nYa-ya-hey-hey. Should you hate? Or should you love? Way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em>
              \nYa-ya-hey-hey. The answer is All of the Above. Way-ya-hey-hey.<\/em><\/p>\n

              ***<\/p>\n

              Valediction<\/strong><\/h1>\n

              After school, after football practice, every day for three years, John and I walked to the grocery store in our little town and bought candy, potato chips, and soda pop. It was a ceremony. We said hello to the old couple who owned the store, stepped into the walk-in cooler, grabbed our cold drinks, paid for them and our other snacks, and headed to John\u2019s house or mine, depending on what our parents were planning to cook for dinner.<\/p>\n

              It was an average life for two average kids.<\/p>\n

              But, one day, in November of our senior year, John and I, as usual, stepped into the cooler and grabbed our favorite cans of pop. But then we looked at each other and we both had the same thought. I don\u2019t know why it happened. Without saying a word, John and I grabbed three six-packs of soda and stuffed them into our duffle bags. Carrying the carbonated loot, we paid for our usual junk food, walked to John\u2019s house, raced into his bedroom and celebrated. We drank all that pop and got wound up and stupid on sugar and caffeine. We could have stolen beer but we were athletes. And jocks did not get drunk in our school.<\/p>\n

              The next morning, we met up before school, and vowed to never do it again. One time was kind of innocent, but more than that would be criminal.<\/p>\n

              But after practice that night, we did it again. Then again the day after that. We shoplifted for a week.<\/p>\n

              The thrill and guilt grew bigger each time.<\/p>\n

              We joked and laughed with the old people who owned the store. We paid for five bucks of snacks as we stole twenty more.<\/p>\n

              Then I couldn\u2019t do it anymore.<\/p>\n

              \u201cJohn,\u201d I said. \u201cWe have to stop. We\u2019re going to get caught. They\u2019ll kick us off the team. They might throw us out of school.\u201d<\/p>\n

              \u201cJust one more time,\u201d he said. \u201cCome on, Pete. They\u2019re too old to catch us.\u201d<\/p>\n

              \u201cI can\u2019t do it, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

              \u201cYou\u2019ve always been a wuss.\u201d<\/p>\n

              I walked home alone while John went to the store. I thought he might text or call me after he left the store. I didn\u2019t hear anything from him.<\/p>\n

              When I got to school the next morning, I immediately heard the bad news. John had been caught shoplifting. I knew they\u2019d wonder how I was involved. John and I went everywhere together.<\/p>\n

              Halfway through first period, I was summoned to the principal\u2019s office. He was there with the superintendent, the school counselor, and the football coach. It felt like an interrogation.<\/p>\n

              \u201cPeter,\u201d the principal said. \u201cI\u2019m sure you know why you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

              \u201cBecause of John,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

              \u201cYes,\u201d he said. \u201cDid you know what he was doing? Were you involved?\u201d<\/p>\n

              I wanted to tell the truth. I knew that I should confess. But it felt like I\u2019d destroy my life by admitting to the crime. I wondered if John had already told them that I\u2019d stolen nearly as often as he had. Did he do the right thing?<\/p>\n

              \u201cPete,\u201d the principal asked again. \u201cWere you involved in this?\u201d<\/p>\n

              \u201cNo, sir,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

              They all studied my face. They knew I was lying. They wouldn\u2019t let me get away with it.<\/p>\n

              \u201cOkay, Pete,\u201d the principal said. \u201cJohn already told us he did it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

              I could tell they hadn\u2019t believed him, either. But there was nothing they could do. I hadn\u2019t confessed and John had denied that I was a thief, too. He was kicked off the football team, sentenced to community service picking up litter around town, and was suspended from school for a month.<\/p>\n

              During that month, he and I didn\u2019t see each other. We didn\u2019t call or text. We\u2019d been constantly together for years but things had changed. I don\u2019t know why he didn\u2019t contact me. But I was too ashamed to talk to him. I\u2019d let him take all the punishment. I kept playing football. I didn\u2019t have to scoop up dog shit while my classmates watched. I wasn\u2019t suspended. And my reputation wasn\u2019t ruined. I wasn\u2019t branded as a good kid gone bad. In fact, some people thought John had betrayed me by shoplifting and nearly getting me into trouble.<\/p>\n

              When John came back to school, he wouldn\u2019t look at me. And I wouldn\u2019t look at him. This silence went on for the rest of the year. We ignored each other at our graduation ceremony. Our parents ignored each other, too.<\/p>\n

              Late that night, at a kegger down by the river, we stood at separate campfires. I didn\u2019t drink anything. But he got really drunk. I was worried for him. He caught me staring. He threw his beer into the fire and staggered up to me.<\/p>\n

              He grabbed me by my shirt and shook me.<\/p>\n

              \u201cYou aren\u2019t who I thought you were,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

              \u201cNeither are you,\u201d I said<\/p>\n

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